In Canada, a message from the information technology service branch noted the "unscheduled multiple service interruption" occurred from 4 a.m. to noon Sunday and affected:

Constituency Connectivity Service (access to internal Hill services)

Email services

Network drives

Network services

"Preventative steps were taken to maintain the security of IT services. The IT environment remains secure and the investigation is ongoing," the note to MPs stated. "All services have returned to normal, but Information Services is continuing to monitor all services affected."

'They are targeting political parties'

"They are targeting political parties and politicians to coerce, manipulate or publicly discredit individuals, and they are targeting traditional and social media to manipulate and influence the public discussion or reduce trust in the democratic process," the head of Canada's foreign signals intelligence agency saidabout unnamed nation states and cyber criminals.